The Incarnation and the Meaning of Christmas

Last year, I wrote a blog series titled “Who is Jesus?” where we looked at the person of Christ. We discussed the fact that Jesus is both fully God and fully man. If you’ve never read that series, here’s a link: Who is Jesus? 

This year, I’d like to focus on the work of Christ. What did Jesus do? What is he doing now? What will he do in the future?

My prayer, if you join me on this journey (and it might get lengthy!), is that you’ll fall more and more deeply in love with Jesus as you reflect on all he’s done for you. 

If you don’t consider yourself a believer, I pray that understanding what Jesus has done for you will draw you to look closer at the love and grace he offers.

What did Jesus do in the past? When answering that question, we have to go back into eternity past. Jesus has always existed as Deity, the Second Person of the Trinity. He was not created. He has always been God the Son. 

As God the Son, Jesus was involved in the creation of all things. 1 Corinthians 8:6 says that Jesus is the One “through whom are all things and through whom we exist.” Hebrews 1:10 says that Jesus created the earth and the heavens. Colossians 1:16 says this: 

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

Then there’s John 1:3:

All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

John says that Jesus created all things, and, in case we didn’t get the point, he says that without him nothing that exists would exist.

Jesus, who has existed from all eternity as God the Son, worked with God the Father to create all that exists today. That’s the first past work of Christ that we’ll mention.

Then came something that theologians call the “Humiliation” of Christ. That’s just a fancy word for things that Jesus did here on earth, and the first step in that process is known as the “Incarnation.” This word comes from the Latin incarnatio, or “taking or being flesh,” and it’s found in that same chapter of John:

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

We must never stop being amazed by that verse. At Christmas, we celebrate that Jesus, God the Son, became a human being and lived among us. 

And he didn’t arrive as a great king or conquering hero. He came as a helpless baby who needed to be fed and burped and have his diaper changed like any other baby. I wrote about that here. 

An important passage in the Bible that sheds light on what Jesus did is Philippians 2:5-7: 

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

This is known as the “kenosis,” which is the word translated here as “emptied.” What did Jesus empty himself of at the Incarnation? He didn’t give up his deity or become any less God. He gained humanity. He wasn’t God minus some of his Godhood; he was God plus manhood.

What Jesus gave up were the things he experienced in heaven. He left behind his immediate presence with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Even if Jesus had come to earth as the most powerful and wealthiest man on the planet, that could never have compared to what he left behind in heaven. 

He also gave up the independent exercise of his abilities. While on earth, Jesus operated only with dependence on and in obedience to the Father. He also chose to experience all the difficulties, pain, temptation, and sorrows that all humans go through. 

Through the Virgin Birth, Jesus became fully man and fully God, both united in one person forever. 

He did all this for one reason — to bring us out of our lostness and back to God. He had to become man. We talked about that here. 

At Christmas, we celebrate the birth of this baby, the Incarnation of God the Son. Maybe if we spend time pondering all that Jesus emptied himself of, we’ll have an even greater appreciation for the Christmas story. That birth in the stable was an act of overwhelming love and selflessness. It was pure grace.

This Christmas, keep in mind not only what Jesus gave up to be in Bethlehem but remember this: that little baby was born to die. The importance of his birth is that it led to an even greater act of grace, the greatest act of grace of all time, his death on the cross. 

Our culture says the meaning of Christmas is being with family, giving gifts, and peace on earth. The true meaning of Christmas is that there is hope for each of us. There’s hope for forgiveness and eternity through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.

As we celebrate this Christmas, let’s remember that we celebrate Jesus giving us the ultimate gift — himself.

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